Birth injury case settled 14 years after child suffers brain damage

Fourteen years ago, a woman who was in jail had gone into labor and requested help from guards so that she could give birth to her child in a safe manner and under the care of medical professionals. Inmates at the jail even began to scream for help in an effort to get guards to respond to the woman who was in labor. However, guards failed to get the woman the medical attention she needed in a timely manner and the woman's child was delivered in jail instead of in a hospital.

As we have mentioned before on our Joliet medical malpractice law blog, it is extremely important that medical professionals carefully monitor women and their unborn babies during pregnancy and labor as well as during birth. Complications could occur at any time, and when these complications are not handled properly, women could become injured and their babies could suffer birth injuries. Sadly, the inmate's baby was permanently injured when she was born in a Michigan jail over a decade ago.

Today, the 14-year-old needs to use a walker in order to move around. The teen suffered severe brain damage when she was born so she will never be able to work. The teen also must be cared for by someone else for the rest of her life. The victim's birth and brain injuries are devastating and costly, but it was recently reported that the victim may finally receive compensation for her life-long medical expenses, pain and suffering.

After the inmate gave birth to her daughter in jail, a lawsuit was filed against the county where the jail was located. The lawsuit argued that the inmate should have been taken to a hospital so she could give birth to her child under proper medical care. The county tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but a judge ruled that guards at the jail had plenty of time to get the woman to a hospital. Instead, the guards wrongly ignored the inmate's medical needs. As a result, the woman's baby was deprived of oxygen when she was born, which caused the child to suffer brain damage.

According to reports, a settlement has finally been reached in the birth injury case. Last month, the county agreed to pay $8 million for the child's birth injuries.

At Cirignani Heller & Harman, LLP, we represent clients from Chicago, Illinois, and throughout the surrounding areas, including the cities of Cicero, Oak Park, Maywood, Berwyn, Elmhurst, Addison, Skokie, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Arlington Heights, Palatine and Northbrook; Cook County, Kane County, Lake County, McHenry County, Will County and DuPage County.